Blog: Martha Graham meets Ancient Greece in Philadelphia

James Ker and Nina Papathanasopoulou

September 17, 2024

James Ker and Nina Papathansopoulou write about a unique opportunity for those attending the Philadelphia annual meeting in January 2025. During the meeting, the Martha Graham Dance Company will perform two pieces that examine women from ancient Greek mythology: Cave of the Heart, a dance that explores the character of Medea, and Errand into the Maze, a duet about the myth of Theseus and the Minotaur that focuses on the figure of Ariadne.


During several years on the SCS Committee on Classics in the Community, we have been excited to witness the vast range of creative and interdisciplinary projects engaging with Greek, Roman, and Mediterranean cultures for (and often in collaboration with) audiences in different community contexts around the world, many of them supported through our Ancient Worlds, Modern Communities grant program. These efforts will continue in an interesting new direction at the upcoming joint meeting of the SCS and AIA in January 2025. After more than a year of planning, we are delighted that the Martha Graham Dance Company has agreed to travel to Center City Philadelphia for a one-off presentation of Graham’s two modernist Greek-themed works.


A large part of the American artist Martha Graham’s prodigious and revolutionary body of work has been inspired by the stories and culture of the ancient Greeks. Living in the 20th century and the time of women’s emancipation, Graham turned to Greek myth as a way to explore the psychology and emotions of women. Graham found particular interest in the female heroes of Greek tragedy. She imagined myths from the point of view of women and developed unforgettable renditions of Medea, Jocasta, Clytemnestra, Ariadne, Phaedra, Circe, Hecuba, Cassandra, Iphigeneia, Electra, and Helen. Beginning in the late 1940s, Graham created a number of Greek-themed dances focusing on female heroes: Cave of the Heart (1946), a work for four dancers exploring the myth of Medea; Night Journey (1947), a retelling of the myth of Oedipus from the perspective of Jocasta; Errand into the Maze (1947), a duet based on the myth of Theseus and the Minotaur and centered on the figure of Ariadne; Clytemnestra (1958), Graham’s only full-evening work, which narrates the myth of Clytemnestra from the sacrifice of Iphigeneia to the murder of Clytemnestra; Alcestis (1960), a dance for which we do not have enough information to allow a restaging; Phaedra (1962), an overtly sexual and provocative work focusing on Phaedra’s lust for her stepson; Circe (1963), Graham’s take on the sorceress featuring Circe’s interactions with Odysseus, his helmsman, and four men she turned into a goat, a lion, a deer, and a snake; and Cortege of Eagles (1967), a retelling of the sack of Troy that focuses on the suffering of Hecuba. Towards the end of her life, Graham also created Andromache’s Lament (1982), Phaedra’s Dream (1983), and Persephone (1987); these works, however, are not currently part of the Martha Graham Dance Company’s repertory.

A black and white photo of a woman with long, dark hair in a ponytail lying on the floor on her tiptoes with knees bent. Her hands are raised in the air in front of her, and from her fingers many long, thin metal wires curve in different directions.
Image 1: Martha Graham as Medea in Cave of the Heart (1946) with the set design by Isamu Noguchi in 1946. Photo by Barbara Morgan.


The January 2025 performance in Philadelphia, which forms part of the Martha Graham Dance Company’s three-year centennial celebration of its founding in 1926, puts a spotlight on Graham's close connection to the culture of the ancient Greeks. It will feature Cave of the Heart (1946) and Errand, the company’s 2013 version of Errand into the Maze (1947). A discussion with the company’s directors and dancers will follow the performance.

Four people stand on a dark stage. Left to right: A Black man with black straps wrapped around his torso holds a white woman in a white tutu up from her hips. They both face left, her arms extended outwards in a Y shape. Center, a white woman stands in a red and black cape with her fingertips touching at chest height. Right, a woman kneels, bending backwards, in a black dress with green and gold beads.
Image 2: Marzia Memoli (Princess), Lloyd Knight (Jason), Anne Souder (Chorus), and Xin Ying (Medea) in a performance of Martha Graham’s Cave of the Heart in April 2023. Photo by Melissa Sherwood.


The performance will take place on Saturday, January 4 from 8:00pm–10:00pm in the Suzanne Roberts Theatre, a short walk from the Marriott Hotel. Low-cost tickets will be made available to the Philadelphia public and to SCS meeting participants, and the event will be preceded by a panel at the SCS meeting titled “Dance and Myth: The Reception of the Greeks by Martha Graham.”


We are delighted that Philadelphia residents, along with classicists and archaeologists attending the annual meeting, will have a chance to witness these mythic and historic works being performed in a setting that facilitates creative and academic exchange.


This event has been made possible through the co-sponsorship of the Society for Classical Studies, the Virginia Wellington Cabot Foundation, and the Department of Classical Studies at the University of Pennsylvania, where Classical Studies has been generously supported by Keith A. Morgan (class of 1983) and Alixandra Morgan.

More information about the event and ticket purchase can be found here.

On a dark stage, a white man wearing only a loincloth and a long bar around his shoulders crouches down, holding the wrists of a white woman. She wears a white dress and stands bent backwards with her arms raised above her head, suspended from her wrists by the man.
Image 3: So Young An and Lorenzo Pagano in Martha Graham’s Errand into the Maze in April 2022. Photo by Dragan Perkovski.

Authors

James Ker is Professor of Classical Studies at the University of Pennsylvania, where he is chair of the Graduate Group in Greek and Latin Languages and Literatures. His research and teaching are concerned with Latin literature and Roman cultural history, including reception studies and the teaching of classical studies and ancient languages in modern schools. His most recent book is The Ordered Day: Quotidian Time and Forms of Life in Ancient Rome. He presently serves as chair of the SCS Committee on Classics in the Community. Contact: jker@sas.upenn.edu.

Nina Papathanasopoulou (Ph.D. Columbia University) works as the Public Engagement Coordinator for the Society for Classical Studies, overseeing the Ancient Worlds, Modern Communities Initiative, and is a member of the Classics faculty at College Year in Athens (CYA) specializing in Greek drama and mythology. From 2013-2019 she was Visiting Assistant Professor of Classics at Connecticut College. Her current research explores interpretations of Greek myths through the dance works of Martha Graham. In 2022 Nina started producing a series of public-facing presentations titled "Martha Graham & Greek Myth" which integrate live dance into a series of academic talks. ninapapathanasopoulou.com Contact: ninapapathan@gmail.com
A black and white photo of a woman with long, dark hair in a ponytail lying on the floor on her tiptoes with knees bent. Her hands are raised in the air in front of her, and from her fingers many long, thin metal wires curve in different directions.

Categories

performance
greek tragedy
Mythology
Ancient Women